Comfort Home Care Voted #1 Company in Massachusetts by the Boston Globe

Posted on: November 21st, 2014 by Katie

PRESS RELEASE – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The Boston Globe Announces Top Places to Work for 2014

Boston (November 13, 2014) – The Boston Globe honors Massachusetts’ best employers in its annual Top Places to Work magazine, which will appear online at BostonGlobe.com/topplaces on November 13 and in The Boston Sunday Globe on November 16. This year, Kronos, Comfort Home Care, Institution for Savings, and MeYou Health took the top honors in their respective size categories, marking the third year that Institution for Savings has topped its category.

For seven years, this popular 48-page standalone magazine has recognized the state’s most admired workplaces based on surveys completed by the people who know them the best — the employees themselves.

Kronos, with 1,160 employees in the region, took the top spot for best workplace in the largest company category. The Chelmsford-based technology company develops workforce management software that helps organizations automate many HR-related functions for their workforce. Its senior executives specialize in making a global company feel local to all employees. For example, during Thanksgiving season senior executives don aprons and serve turkey in the cafeteria.

Comfort Home Care of Methuen leads the large category. With just over 300 workers in the region, CHC is a visiting nurse agency specializing in acute and chronic mental health issues and traditional elder care services. The founder was the company’s only nurse for the first six months and his work in the trenches helps him inspire new employees.

Institution for Savings, founded in 1820, again ranks number one in the medium category. It invests in its 135 employees with above-and-beyond amenities and benefits, such as an in-office gym and profit sharing for every employee, including students who work over Christmas break. More than 25 percent of the company’s workers have stayed with the Newburyport-based bank for a decade or more.

MeYou Health, the Boston-based company at the forefront of the small company category, is a subsidiary of Healthways Inc., delivering web-based products that encourage people to live healthier lifestyles. The company, which hasn’t lost a single engineer in five years, is known for its “unheard of life-work balance” and catered weekly lunches.

“Employer success can’t be measured solely in profits and revenue,” said Boston Globe Business Editor Mark Pothier. “What matters most to employers are their people. This year’s winning companies go above and beyond to motivate and challenge their workers, which tends to encourage innovation and loyalty.”

“Our employees are the heart of this company. Without your continuous hard work we wouldn’t have been able to provide the elite care that we have become known for.” President Brandon Howes of Comfort Home Care says. “You are what make this company #1. Thank you to everyone for loving this company as much as I do!”

In addition to the rankings, the magazine highlights creative corporate perks including healthcare plans that cover up to 90 percent of premiums, a company nap room, and the healthiest card game around called “Fitness Poker.” This year’s magazine will also include a column by Shirley Leung, outlining what some of the winning CEOs say they learned from the firing of Market Basket CEO Arthur T. Demoulas.

The Boston Globe’s 2014 Top Places to Work survey, conducted by employee survey firm WorkplaceDynamics, measured about 73,500 individuals’ responses to statements regarding six key factors related to employee happiness, including company direction, execution, employee connection, work load and responsibility, management, and pay and benefits. Least important factors were pay, benefits and work-life balance, with survey subjects placing much higher importance on employee appreciation, confidence and a meaningful connection to the work. WorkplaceDynamics also found that of all the cities surveyed, employees in Boston were most enthusiastic about their companies.

Top Places to Work online extras include sortable rankings and photo galleries. All can be found at www.bostonglobe.com/topplaces. Readers can follow the news on Twitter at #workboston.